OSU's victory over Florida has special significance for fans

Mike Popovich

Sunday

Dec 23, 2007 at 12:01 AMDec 23, 2007 at 8:01 PM

The Buckeyes beat Florida, 62-49, to avenge their loss to the Gators in last year’s national championship game. But it doesn’t stop at basketball with these schools. Almost a year has passed since Florida’s football team blew out Ohio State in the BCS national title game.

Ohio State’s clear-cut nemesis in 2007 was finally taken down Saturday. And the fans who packed Value City Arena didn’t seem to mind that there was no title on the line.

The Buckeyes beat Florida, 62-49, to avenge their loss to the Gators in last year’s national championship game. But it doesn’t stop at basketball with these schools. Almost a year has passed since Florida’s football team blew out Ohio State in the BCS national title game.

Kosta Koufos scored a game-high 17 points, Jamar Butler finished with 13 and David Lighty added 11 to lead the Buckeyes (8-3) to their fourth straight win. The Gators lost for just the second time in 13 games.

The players on the court for both teams hardly resembled those who were involved in the championship game. Five were selected in the top 10 of last summer’s NBA draft.

Butler, the only returning starter from the final, and Lighty both downplayed the revenge factor for Ohio State.

“You can say it’s a little special,” Lighty said. “But it’s a new year. We made it a big game, like all of our games.”

The fans were electric before the opening tip. They enjoyed themselves and had a little fun as the outcome became inevitable.

Florida’s Chandler Parsons airballed a free throw with four minutes left and heard about it every time he touched the ball again. As time wound down, many fans directed the Gator Chomp, a gesture made by Florida supporters, toward the Gators.

Buckeyes Head Coach Thad Matta certainly understood the game’s special significance for the fans.

“I view Florida as one of the premier programs in college basketball right now,” Matta said. “ ... It meant a lot to me as well as them.”

Ohio State’s zone helped shut down a Florida offense that was averaging almost 83 points. The Gators shot 33 percent from the field and were 4-of-23 from 3-point range —_ironically, the same stat from outside the arc as during their first loss to Florida State.

“You have to give Ohio State a lot of credit for their defense and the way they played,” Florida Coach Billy Donovan said.

The Buckeyes fell behind 7-0, but they were able to quickly regroup and forge ahead. They outscored the Gators 20-7 in the final 8:13 of the first half and led 32-22 at halftime.

Lighty scored 4 points and Butler and Jon Diebler hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a 12-1 run that gave Ohio State a 32-19 lead.

“I think we were just letting them do they wanted to do instead of us dictating the game the first four minutes,” Lighty said. “After that, we just got into the flow. It was all attack.”

The Buckeyes’ lead was never in single digits during the second half. The final 20 minutes also gave Koufos a chance to rebound from a tough start.

The 7-foot freshman from GlenOak High hit just one of his first six attempts — a dunk that gave the Buckeyes their first lead at 12-11. Koufos went on to score 12 of his 17 points in the second half and also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds.

“My teammates had faith in me,” Koufos said. “They just told me at halftime to keep my head up. And if it wasn’t for the guards I wouldn’t be getting the ball in the post. We played well as a team.”